Complexity and cost effectiveness measures for systems design

Abstract

This paper proposes two measures intended to aid high level decision makers in comparing alternatives during pre-competitive studies or during the architectural design process of composite systems. The first measure is a complexity estimate and is based on Boltzmann’s entropy concept. It measures the distribution of functional couplings in the system’s decomposition. The second measure is intended to estimate the costs and benefits of a functional coupling related to system’s perfo